Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

58 reviews

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Brilliant piece of work here. Definitely worth the effort, given the sheer size of the novel.
Anna has blatantly got borderline personality disorder - Tolstoy may not have known to call it that, but it oozes out of her every pore. 
I didn't find many of the characters likeable. Oblonsky was fun enough. Kitty was harmless. Levin on the other hand - ergh! What a sop! Me, me ,me... my place in the world, philosophy blah blah blah. 
Tolstoy could have snipped off 100 pages and it would have been a perfect 5 star outing. He went on a bit too long about fields, harvesting and peasants for me though.

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challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

It’s hard for me to pay very close attention when I listen to an audiobook, so I’m sure I missed some stuff. 
Anna’s affair was really well-written, especially
the toxicity and insecurity in the relationship
. I’ve experienced something similar (in a very minor way) and it felt very familiar. 
Levin’s story was a bit hit or miss with me. Often nothing was really happening, but I do like his complicated character, and
the ending was very sweet and wholesome with him finding God and seeing the world through new eyes

Very very slow, pace yourself, but an interesting journey into people’s psychology. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

anna's narrative slapped but levin was so boring, and worse, a landlord.........the peasants should've killed him the way the serfs did fyodor dostoevsky's dad :/

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challenging inspiring reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The development of Anna, Vronksky, Kitty and Levin is very interesting, and shows a real in-depth understanding of the human psyche. While some of their struggles are particular to the time it is set, others are still relatable. It shows an accurate perception of dealing (or not dealing) with one’s troubles with mental health. Supporting characters are also well developed, giving a sense of familiarity, although the length of the book could be reduced somewhat by slightly less development of lesser characters. Personally less interested in the religious complexities but it does give good context to the time and situation in Russia.
Listened on Audible to understand the emotions felt by characters better than reading extended descriptions and thankful for it.

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emotional reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

An excellent book occasionally spoiled by Tolsoy's tendency towards the driest didacticism .

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging emotional reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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challenging informative slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I was slightly disappointed in this book. For a book titled Anna Karenina, it has very little to do with the woman herself, and more to do with the society in which she lives. I realise that it is a "classic" and it shows a lot about the time and place in which it was written, but I was bored while reading it. The story felt as if it was like Moby Dick in terms of unnecessary tangents about anything from politics to farming methods and like Gone With the Wind in terms of character development or lack thereof. None of the characters grew, nobody learned anything, and nobody changed
(maybe with the exception of Anna Karenina herself, who went crazy and jumped in front of a train).

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sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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